Stephen Rohde, a constitutional lawyer and the Chair the ACLU Foundation of Southern California, blogs about the case in Michigan where a husband accessed his wife’s email account and has been charged under Michigan’s computer access/hacking statute. Rohde writes, in part:
The alleged intrusion must also be “highly offensive” under the particular circumstances, which depends on the degree and setting of the intrusion, and the intruder’s motives and objectives. One must show that the intrusion is so serious in “nature, scope, and actual or potential impact as to constitute an egregious breach of the social norms.” The law provides no bright line on “offensiveness” and each case depends on its own facts. But no invasion of privacy occurs if the intrusion is justified by an important competing interest.
Read his entire commentary on the case and issues on Huffington Post.